Baseline Study of Cancer Patterns in the Department of Pathology of the Tamale Teaching Hospital, Northern Region of Ghana

Background: Documentation of baseline data in any newly established academic or health institution is a pre-requisite for future research. The histopathological review aimed to describe the patterns and the relative proportions of the various cancers diagnosed in the Department of Pathology, Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) to be used as a baseline data for future research.

Materials and Methods: This retrospective review was conducted from 1st June 2011 to 30th June 2016 in the Department. Data were analysed using SPSS software version 23.0 (Chicago). Fisher’s exact test was used to compare common cancers.

Results: A total of 715 cancer cases were reviewed, majority were females 534 [(76.7%), (p< 0.0001)], with female to male ratio of 3:1. The mean age of males was 49.9±21.6 years compared to 48.7±17.5 years for females. Common male cancers were: gastric (17.7%), soft tissue (12.2%), larynx (9.9%), bone (8.8%) and prostate (8.3%); while for the females were: breast (33.5%), cervix (31.1%), ovary (7.3%), gastric (3.9%) and uterus (3.7%). Male genital tract cancers were: prostate (65.2%), penis (26.1%), testis (4.3%) and scrotum (4.3%). Cancers of the female reproductive system were: cervix (70.3%), ovary (16.5%), uterus (8.5%), vagina (2.6%), vulva (1.7%) and fallopian tube (0.4%). A total of 454 (63.5%) cancers occurred in both males and females. Among all the cases, 65.6% were occurred in females (p< 0.0001), particularly in breast [(96.3%), p< 0.0001], the urinary system [(56.0%), p= 0.5721] and conjunctiva/orbital [(62.5%), p= 0.6193].

Conclusion: Cancers were found to be the common among relatively young females. Breast, urinary system and conjunctiva and orbital malignancies were significantly common in females.